The European Commission must explain in more detail the specifics of the operation of a database it plans to create that will hold personal data on suspected intellectual property (IP) rights infringers, an EU data protection watchdog has said.
The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) said that in order to comply with data …

COMMENTS

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I had a huge database once, with almost everyones details on it - then I went and left it on a bus.

Kind of funny the way these databases are moved around by buses, or high speed underground links or even slower, common rail links. I wonder what will become of this instance.

Still, my details are safe - I've triple-shredded all the details of who I am and every scrap of evidence that I ever existed - so there, mega-politico-corps, I ... I ... nurse !, are you a nurse ? ..... is this what you call living in a machine ? ... ahhhg!

So destroy on suspicion then?

"In May, the Commission announced plans to enable IP rights-holders and others to apply for customs action to seize and destroy goods suspected of being fake or unlicensed." I just can't help wondering, what happens if they destroy a bazzilion dollars worth of stuff, and find out afterwards that their suspicion of it being fake or unlicensed were not true? You can't destroy stuff on suspicion, that's like the US executing someone on suspicion (ok so maybe not the best example). You could sieze it on suspicion to check out its bona fides, then destroy it if its fake etc, or release it if you are wrong. A bit late if you have destroyed it already.

legal slander (or is it libel?)

Utterly dreadful people

There's a really, really unhealthy slice of humanity that seems to delight in collating data on the "wrongdoings" of others for no obviously better reason than they seem to get off on it. They lurk in the corners throughout human history, emerging from under their rock when some regime exists that seem to value their particularly nasty worldview. Doesn't matter what the politics are; communist, capitalist, social democrat, tyranny, democracy or even bloody hippy commune, there's always some fucker who wants a list of "transgressors".

Be nice to turn the tables and compile a list of people who get their jollies making finger pointing lists and visit a bit of what usually ensues from compiling such lists on them, very publicly and somewhat more unpleasantly than the Golgafrincham solution - telephone sanitisers I can live with. There's enough of the bastards it would probably make for a good global event - perhaps a replacement for the Olympics; more interesting, useful and doubtless cheaper to run, since I reckon finding volunteers would be easy, and the world would be made a better place at a stroke.

every authority eventually...

... wants to make secret lists.

Looking back through history many individuals and groups that are now viewed by history as bad, started out with public support and gradually overstepped their remit, started making secret lists of people and eventually got far too much of a power complex going, often with horrendous results.

The EU is following history to the letter despite initially wanting and claiming to be for everyone's good.

Comments

Yup, I saw no comments earlier, despite there apparently being some available. Just a blank. And, yes, sounds like it's the EU just being nosey for the sake of it. This sounds very dangerous and great hacker fodder, as we all know what happens to databases these days. Who watches the watchers?